Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle roof structure having solar cells and a vehicle provided with such a vehicle roof structure, as well as a method of manufacturing a vehicle roof unit having solar cells.
Description of the Background Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-157342, vehicles having a roof with solar cells mounted thereon are known. The vehicle roof suffers from various impacts from external environments, such as snow coverage in a snowy district or pressure by a car washer. When the roof deforms greatly upon receipt of an impact from the outside, the solar cells may break down so that they can no longer generate electric power appropriately. Therefore, a glass plate having relatively high strength and rigidity as well as high transparency is commonly used for the vehicle roof provided with solar cells as a member constituting the outer surface of the roof panel.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 06-005901 describes a solar cell module with solar cells inserted in fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), the solar cell module being provided with a curved surface as a whole and being bent at its periphery to increase rigidity.